A NEW microscope objective from Olympus claims a new world record numerical aperture (NA) of 1.7, enabling the highest Z-resolution ever recorded for a Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (TIRF) microscope, says the company. The practical benefits of this performance include…
Five-step programme to good pipetting practice
FEW OPERATIONS are as fundamental to modern laboratory practice as pipetting, which plays a vital role in a great many experiments. The importance of accuracy and repeatability which applies to all lab operations is especially relevant here, as any errors…
Big six banned E coli pathogens now available
FOLLOWING the announcement by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of mandatory testing for six serogroups of E Coli in the food chain, ATCC has made available all six of the newly-banned pathogens. Each of these non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing…
Weekly news: biology beats electronics in data density
I got to thinking about data storage density the other day, when an old floppy disk was found at the back of a drawer. It wasn’t quite a ‘what’s that Daddy?’ moment, but almost. The first computer I ever touched…
The lab steriliser gets personal
A NOTICEABLE trend in lab equipment in recent years has been the growth of the ‘personal’ scale machine. Where once almost any item of kit was an expensive resource that had to be shared across the bench, nowadays everything from…
Aseptic sampling with walk-away automation
AN AUTOMATED sampling workstation that collects samples directly and aseptically from bioreactors can save time, remove risk of error, and improve quality control, says Alfa Wassermann. The company says its Empat system is easy to install and program, operates continuously…
Microscope software gets major upgrade
THE LATEST iteration of CellSens microscopy software from Olympus includes new imaging modules that promise many benefits, especially to inexperienced users. CellSens 1.7 includes Well Navigator to streamline the imaging of multi-well experiments, along with High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging…
Scaling-up production of functionalised silicas
TURNAROUND time and batch-to-batch efficiency have been improved at Phosphonics, while scaling-up production of its range of functionalised silicas, using a specially adapted Asynt 20litre ReactoMate reactor system. Phosphonics, based in Abingdon, UK, has developed a range of functionalised silicas…
Oversubscribed next-generation workshop now online
WHEN Oxford Gene Technology (OGT) hosted a workshop at the European Society of Human Genetics (ESHG) 2012 conference in Germany last month, it was pleasantly surprised to find the event oversubscribed. The 200 attendees who were able to get in,…
Point of care HbA1c analyser matches lab quality
NEW semi-automated HbA1c analyser promising accurate and low cost diagnostics for use at point of care or in the laboratory is now CE-certified and is to be launched across Europe. Quo-Lab from EKF Diagnostics uses the boronate affinity florescence method…
Trough plates boost productivity in multichannel pipetting
RESEARCHERS performing serial dilutions or working with reagents using multichannel pipettors might like to check out this new ‘trough plate’ from JG Finneran. These eight- and 12-channel reservoir trough plates hold liquid reagents in precise rows that align with pipette…
Making the lab safety cabinet safer
CHEMICAL safety cabinets are a commonplace and sensible way to store hazardous materials in the laboratory, but can present their own safety challenges says Air Science. Its new Vent-Box ductless filtration system is designed to protect laboratory personnel from the…
Deep plates promise high sample integrity
A NEW applications report shows that deep well polypropylene microplates from Porvair Sciences contain almost no significant levels of leachable or extractable compounds which might affect the integrity of stored samples. GC/MS analysis carried out by on a wide range…
Lab freezers in the deepest green
ENERGY efficiency is a prime consideration for any laboratory these days, and freezer manufacturer New Brunswick says this has long been a priority. The Eppendorf group company says its ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezers are the most energy-saving in the industry,…
Weekly news: beam me up, Geordie
IT’S ALWAYS intriguing when science fiction becomes science fact, and never more so than when an item of kit from Star Trek gets made real. Fans of the series will recall that the apparently insurmountable problem of communications with alien…
Parallel evaporation boosts parallel chemistry
GENEVAC says that, whether working in drug discovery, flavour and fragrance research, organic LED synthesis, or academic research, its systems are the ideal tool for evaporating multiple samples in parallel. Genevac evaporators are proven in a wide range of parallel…
Inverted microscope range has been re-engineered
TOTALLY re-engineered range of customisable inverted microscopes will be launched by Olympus in September 2012, the company has announced. Taking advantage of the attention generated by the European Microscopy Congress (EMC) 2012 in Manchester, UK (16-21 September), the new instruments…
Agilent offers single source for HPLC supplies and services
IN A bid to win lucrative new business supplying consumables and servicing for other manufacturers’ HPLC instruments, Agilent has launched its new CrossLab HPLC offering. The move expands the CrossLab operation into high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in addition to the…
Better quantitative ketosis detection
THE DETECTION of clinically-significant ketosis – the condition of elevated levels of ketones occur in the body in response to a low supply of energy (glucose) – can be improved through the use of LiquiColor reagents, says Stanbio Laboratory. Using…
Improved grinding of hard and fibrous material
FRITSCH says that its new, completely modified Pulverisette 9 vibrating cup mill offers practical advantages when hard, brittle, or fibrous material must be ground quickly to analytical fineness. It is suited to fast sample preparation for spectroscopy, ore analysis in…
Imaging RNA in living cells in real time
THE IMAGING of RNA inside individual living cells seems like the stuff of science fiction, but is becoming a laboratory reality says Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT). The latest issue of Decoded, the company’s quarterly newsletter, highlights the use of IDT…
Sample integrity is enhanced by multi-well plates
PORVAIR’s range of proprietary multi-well filtration microplates has been developed in response to the need for reliable methods to purify samples and improve assays. These microplates are optimised for applications including cell harvesting, DNA separations, binding studies, plasmid isolation, general…
Bioreactor flask range bought by Wheaton
THE CELLINE range of bioreactor flasks for antibody and protein production has been acquired by Wheaton Industries from Wilson Wolf Manufacturing. Wheaton has also entered into an agreement with Wilson Wolf for further product development in high density cell culture…
Nanoparticle tracking analysis now defined by ASTM
THE PUBLICATION by the American Society of Testing Materials of its new guide new nanomaterial measurement – ASTM E2834 – has been welcomed by Nanosight. The ‘standard guide for measurement of particle size distribution of nanomaterials in suspension by nanoparticle…
DNA sequencing kits for use with Ion Torrent
BIOO Scientific has expanded its line of kits for NGS library preparation to include the Nextflex DNA Sequencing Kit for Ion Torrent, which has been validated for use with the Ion PGM system from Life Technologies. The Nextflex DNA Sequencing…
Microfluidic chips mimic human organs
A UNIVERSITY spin-off has attracted substantial funding to launch its organs-on-a-chip microfluidic devices. Mimetas, a spin-off of the University of Leiden, Netherlands, has attracted funding of 200,000 euros to puts its synthetic organs into production. The company expects the devices…
Weekly news: if it quarks like a duck…
IT WAS one of the most anticipated announcements about one of the worst-kept secrets in science, and it dealt with discoveries that few of us genuinely understand. Screeds have already been written about the news of the new boson –…
Nanoparticle tracking analysis to characterise exosomes
NANOPARTICLE Tracking Analysis (NTA) is being used to characterise exosomes for use in delivering therapeutic moieties to specific tissues in vivo at the Science and Engineering Institutes (SCE) in Singapore. In the Molecular Engineering Laboratory, established in 2009 by Nobel…
Microplate reader measures luminescence, fluorescence, and absorbance
A SECOND-generation microplate reader from Berthold Technologies, the TriStar2, employs a new ‘all-4-one’ optical arrangement which enables luminescence, fluorescence and absorbance measurements with high sensitivity. The reader also handles fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET)…
Sensor electrodes use silver but no mercury
A NEW series of pH and reference electrodes from Sensorex promise the performance of mercury chloride (calomel) electrodes but without the mercury and its associated hazards. The new ‘calomel-free’ electrodes are available in a glass or thermoplastic body, and feature…